I often stumble across interesting chemistry when I peruse my twitter feed. It’s not only rich in new chemistry highlights and ASAP links to journal articles but also chemists sharing their own experiences with both new and existing methodology- good, bad, and sometimes with pictures!- a dimension missing from just reading peer-reviewed journal articles and,

Oxazoles are relatively common heterocyclic rings, but are not always the easiest rings to prepare by de novo synthesis.  Two recent papers describe new methods for the preparation of these compounds1,2. In the first paper1, a heterogeneous gold catalyst (MCM-41-Ph3PAuNTf2) is used prepare oxazoles from an acetylene, a nitrile with the oxygen atom coming from